Just when everyone thought Chance the Rapper was on the verge of following up his acclaimed 2013 mix tape, "Acid Rap," he went sideways. It proved to be a brilliant move.

Instead of putting out another album under his own name, the acclaimed South Side MC threw some attention at his band, the Social Experiment, and his boyhood friend, trumpet player Nico Segal, aka Donnie Trumpet.

Donnie Trumpet and the Social Experiment's self-released debut album, "Surf," launched a big year for the collective. It's a signature release from a wave of Chicago artists under the age of 25 who are bending genre and cultural boundaries — from Twin Peaks and Vic Mensa to Marrow and Tink.

Chance is all over "Surf" as a rapper, producer and arranger, but it's very much a shared effort. It doubles as a celebration of community, bringing in dozens of collaborators from a multitude of genres and cities to assist the core members: Chance, Segal, Peter Cottontale, Greg Landfair and Nate Fox. The focus is less on individual personalities than on musical synthesis, a head-spinning mix of lush harmonies drawn from the Beach Boys and gospel music, jazz solos and textures, hip-hop rhythms and vocals, soul and rock dynamics.

Chance put the Social Experiment together for a tour in the wake of "Acid Rap," and it has become an emblem for his cross-genre and cross-cultural projects. "The band is bigger than a group of artists," he said in the weeks leading up to the release of "Surf." "It's a community of people, artists and creatives. I want to build a community of young creatives and revert music back to its bohemian roots."

Chance backed up his assertions with a series of open-mic nights around the city, providing a forum for aspiring artists from Chicago and suburban high schools to showcase their talent. His ambitions crossed over into the Social Experiment's music, notably a video choreographed like a Broadway musical for the infectious single "Sunday Candy" and a triumphant headlining performance at the Pitchfork Music Festival in Union Park that resembled a multiact play or rap opera.

Segal and the other members of the Social Experiment were integral to each of these all-in artistic endeavors. The album raised the profile of Segal, in particular, and individual projects are expected from all the Social Experiment's core members in future years.

"He's amazing by himself, instantly captivating, but the music part is important to him," Segal said at the time of the album's release. "Most rappers just think about how they look and getting paid. But there's a lot of music on 'Acid Rap' and 'Surf.' The general concept of what people think of as a rap show (stinks). There's a guy rapping and canned music. It's important to give the audience something way cooler, a night. It costs money to do what we do. It comes out of his (Chance's) pocket. But he knows it's way better for the audience."

A version of this article appeared in print on December 27, 2015, in the Arts + Entertainment section of the Chicago Tribune with the headline "Bigger than the artist behind the mic" —
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